Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood: A Day Out in Old Dubai

By Halal Xplorer City City Guide Dubai March 13, 2022

A Day Out in Old Dubai

On our recent trip to Dubai, the day we spent exploring Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood was quite possibly the best day of our trip. In this post we’ll discuss what Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood is, what you can do there, the best food options in the area and how to get there.

What is Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood?

Everyone is aware of how quickly Dubai became this new and shiny mega city – not long ago Dubai was merely a desert. You’ll find pictures dating back to around 1991 depicting Dubai’s famous Sheikh Zayed Road as almost a barren desert and now this very road is home to all the famous skyscrapers that make Dubai what it is now. Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood also known as Al Bastakiya gives you a glimpse of what THAT Dubai looked like.

If you want to see and get a feel for what old Dubai looked like, then you need to come here. Actually, scrap that – if you’re visiting Dubai, you need to fit in a day to come here and explore the area. The neighbourhood depicts what life looked like in Dubai from the mid 19th century until the 1970s. Walk the old streets, wander through its mystical alleys and you’ll come across wonderful finds and great photo opportunities around every corner. Old buildings, museums, forts, shops selling authentic items and art galleries are some of the historic things you’ll see. Most of what you will witness are of the original structure of old Dubai, but don’t feel intimidated. They have touched up the area and restored it to a state and condition that is clean and safe and something that is more than fit for Dubai.

What can you do there?

Here is my suggested itinerary:

Breakfast at Arabian Tea House. Start early, come to this quaint cafe for an authentic Emirati breakfast. Conveniently, this is located right at the start of the district. Perfect! Read about our experience here.
Wander the narrow lanes of Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. Take photos, shop around for souvenirs and just see what you can discover. You’ll find many museums like the coffee museum and the coin museum and most of them are free to enter. You’ll also find art galleries, so if that is your thing, enjoy! Walk into the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding for a lesson on Emirati culture and free Arabic coffee and dates. See if you can find the oldest building in Dubai – Al Fahidi Fort, which dates back to 1787!
Lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in Dubai. Al Ustad Special Kebab is minutes away from the metro station you would’ve got off for the Arabian Tea House. Read about our experience here.
Take the Abra to get to the other side of creek. The Abra itself is a wonderful experience – not to be missed. Take this to get to the other side of the creek (you can use the metro, but where is the fun in that?).
Explore the markets and shop around on this side of the creek. Here you’ll find the gold souk, the textiles souk, the perfume souk and the spice souk amongst many other sections. Perfect for some authentic souvenir shopping. This shopping experience is a bit more intense and can be a little intimidating for someone who may not have experienced it before. Every vendor will try to get you into their shops and once you’re in, they’ll try their absolute best to get you to spend your money and then comes the haggling. You’ll need to haggle. This is far from the Dubai Mall experience. Take the Abra and come back to the Al Fahidi side and you’ll find more shops and in all honesty, we’ve found that the range and things that you may want to get can be found on this side anyway (except for gold). Just walk around and literally wander and you’ll find what you’re looking for – whether it is oud, clothing or saffron.
Home. As you head back to the metro station, you’ll see some hole in the wall tea spots – grab a karak – this’ll be some of the best karak you’ll have in Dubai.